Photos Credit:  Dan Lovinaria

The Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetists celebrates our members and the incredible work and service they provide to their communities and patients!
THANK YOU for your exceptional care and commitment to providing safe and effective anesthesia!

Duluth News Tribune OpEd

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/columns/6870606-Statewide-View-Nurse-anesthetists-provide-critical-care-during-and-beyond-COVID-19

2/3/21

Every one of us has been asked to make sacrifices and change behaviors to save lives during this tragic COVID-19 pandemic. Those on the front lines — physicians, nurses, paramedics, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and other specialists — have literally been asked to risk their lives to help others live.  READ FULL OPED HERE

View from the front lines: How the pandemic has shifted the role of CRNAs

Cathy Wurzer  | January 27, 2021 | 11:30 a.m.

Throughout the pandemic, MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer has been talking with health care workers whose day-to-day lives have been turned upside down.

This week, she spoke with Eric Swanlund, president of the Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetists and a CRNA at the Minneapolis VA. Under normal circumstances, CRNAs manage patients’ anesthesia before, during and after surgery. But in the pandemic, many are now on the front lines.

Listen to the interview HERE

Challenged like never before, nurse anesthetists honored during CRNA week

By Mitti Hicks  |  Published 1/25/2021  |  Health Care  |  FOX 9

https://www.fox9.com/news/challenged-like-never-before-nurse-anesthetists-honored-during-crna-week

This group of men and women responds to COVID-19 patients barely hanging on to life.  

Nurse anesthetists celebrated during trying times

It's CRNA Week, where certified registered nurse anesthetists challenged by the pandemic are being honored for their efforts.

Pre-pandemic, the group of specialized nurses provided anesthesia care alongside surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, and more.  

But now, they are caring for patients in the critical moments between life and death by getting breathing tubes down airways.   

"It’s been very traumatizing on our staff," Caitlyn Thompson, a CRNA at Regions Hospital told FOX 9 during an interview. "Sometimes we know it’s the last conversation that a patient can ever vocalize."  

In addition to PPE, what’s new for CRNA’s is carrying a backpack full of supplies to respond to patients having a crisis in their airways. They also administer feeding tubes.  

Their jobs have changed in so many ways during the pandemic, and while critical, many of them have faced job loss because elective surgeries are few and far in between.  

"Regions Hospital has a sub-specialty surgery center and it closed," said Thompson. "The CRNAs at the specialty center were furloughed. We’ve been able to get them here for some trauma cases and the few elective [surgeries] that we're able to be done per the governor’s guidelines."  

Their required training in hospital Intensive Care Units allows them to jump in and help other nurses who are exhausted.  Many are also ready to help the state administer vaccines when supplies are ready.  

"The faster we can do it, the better," said Eric Swanlund, CRNA and spokesperson for the Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetics.  "CRNAs have the skillset to offer and more than happy to offer those skills." 

There are about 1,900 CRNA’s in Minnesota, according to Swanlund.